Chapter 4 : : The Devil Sovereign

Maybe his will was something, his body wasn't able to hold, but his soul did. When Lancer opened his eyes again and comprehended the situation, he realized he was a baby.

He had been reborn in the world of Kazeer.

When Lancer realized he was reborn again, he was very happy. He believed that he was given a second chance, he would be able to get the love of his parents, friends, and find a good life partner.

But the reality was harsh, Royals don't have relatives.

His mother only wanted him to become stronger and capable, so he could gain the favour of the king, his father.

His brothers and sisters always wore the mask of a smile giving him a distant feeling.

The king, his father only looked at the child with the best innate talent and abilities.

The number of times he had met his father until reaching adolescence can be easily counted on one hand's fingers and after it was revealed that he had no talent, there was no need to count anymore.

At that time, he began to ask himself… What was even the use of reincarnation?

Later he tried to do other things to distract himself from negative thoughts and to show others that he wasn't interested in fighting for the throne.

Lancer was smart enough to guess that, his own brother and sisters smiling at him won't hesitate to stab him in the back if he participated in the battle for the throne, only by clearly giving away everything from the royal family would they let him go.

It was also the time when Lancer found something he truly liked, his passion… It was plants. During the time his siblings were building their foundation while wishing that their father quickly leave this world and hand over the throne, Lancer was absorbed in the study of plants.

Time passed slowly, and he became a herbalist, his strong memory didn't disappear after his reincarnation which greatly helped him in learning new things without worrying about forgetting the previous ones.

But fate was cruel.

Just when he became famous and gained respect from others, the royal family was overthrown and he was labeled as the man behind the plague.

Fortunately, he was able to escape alive but no matter where he went, people would attack him, fear him, throw stones at him, there were also ones who labeled him as a WitchCraft Practitioner that needs to be burned alive.

Lancer wanted to live a peaceful life but he couldn't, all this led him to develop hatred towards the Lagvania Family, they ruined his life and the method they used was just as similar to the one from his last life.

He had no interest in revenge for Kayros Family but developed hatred towards Lagvania Family because of his own suffering.

Fate was mysterious, in his last life it was good to him, then ruined everything but in the end, it let him reincarnate.

Lancer didn't believe in fate, he kept struggling through his life without any thought of giving up, but he got tired up from living in human society. He started to live in forests as he continued his study of herbs, if it was a normal world, Lancer would have just lived like a normal person and end his life but it was a Martial World.

He knew that people could do anything if they have strength but what caught his true interest was that they could live longer, he believed that with enough knowledge and research it wasn't impossible to create a herb that could give him a talent for cultivation, a herb that could grant him strength, a herb that could let him live longer.

Professions like Pill Master required the use of Qi to reach the higher stage, so he didn't even consider it.

It was then, he found the inheritance of a WitchCraft Practitioner, who was once hailed as a great demon no less fearsome than a devil… The Devil Sovereign.

The Devil Sovereign was not only WitchCraft Practitioner but also a Martial Great Grand Master, the fear people had against him was the same or even worse than a demon, he was said to kill humans as cutting grass, his emotions wouldn't fluctuate when beheading thousands, many righteous factions allied to kill him again and again but failed, but then he disappeared all of a sudden and his name got forgotten with time, the ones who remembered him believed that he wasn't able to break through to Martial Venerable stage and died.

After Lancer became a strong WitchCraft Practitioner, he came to knew that there were mainly two things a WitchCraft Practitioner do which were making contracts and trades.

A WitchCraft Practitioner makes a contract and through that, they trade a life, offer a sacrifice, and use its power to gain something.

Anything can be a sacrifice as long as it is living, whether it a human, animal, or even plant. Of course, there are some exceptions.

A sacrifice is like a catalyst that lets a WitchCraft Practitioner wield their power.

The value of the thing a Witch Craft Practitioner could gain from the contract can only be equal or less than the value of the sacrifice they give.

Lancer believed that by combining the art Witch Craft with his herbs knowledge he could make a life-prolonging herb but he realized that he was getting older and this research may take decades if he didn't increase his lifespan in time then he may die before completing his research.

He had read about some ways to increase life span in the books he got from inheritance but they were all unorthodox, they not only needed a big number of sacrifices but he might not even look humane after using them, so they were a no.

In fact, Devil Sovereign had also written a method to let one become an undead immortal and prevent death even after the lifespan came to an end.

The method was to seal the user's soul in their vessel, that is their body.

It was one of the exceptions, the method was 'Undead Being Revival Ritual' which required the use of strong energy as the catalyst, for example, Qi, the Qi doesn't have to belong to WitchCraft Practitioner who is using the contract. But except that, the method also required a capable vessel, meaning having a good body to use it.

There was a reason why Qi was needed it was to increase the power of contract, when a WitchCraft Practitioner makes a contract the maximum value of sacrifice or the number of sacrifices they could do depends on their strength and Qi is a catalyst that could buff the user when providing sacrifice, letting them use more sacrifice.

Devil Sovereign believed that a person dies when their organ and inner working of their body stops working and hence the soul leaves its vessel, so if one can prevent the soul from escaping and trap it inside then they can be considered as half alive beings, meaning undead.

But this 'Undead Being Revival Ritual' was incomplete, because Devil Sovereign was not sure if Qi would be able to provide the required buff, the better the buff the higher the number of sacrifices that could be provided, the higher the value of sacrifice the higher the chance will be of success.

According to the book, Devil Sovereign tried this method when his life span was almost over, but there were no records of succeeding so Lancer guessed he died.

Lancer had neither the Qi nor the intention to use it, he looked for another way and finally found something.

There was a way to get what he wants, the way to get the talent for cultivation. If he could cultivate then not only his lifespan would increase but his strength too would increase.

The method was to make a deal with the… Devil.

At present…

Lancer looked at the circular tattoo then laughed towards the sky "Hahaha… If it's really like this then why am I even hesitating? I will do it, if I fail then I will try to reincarnate again, what good would giving up do?"

Lancer thought, he jumped down from the corpse heap and landed near the ground.

He then took out a dirt-yellowish scroll and a fist-size green crystal from his hidden pant pockets.

Lancer opened the scroll and placed it on the ground. The scroll had several overlapped diagrams made of dark red lines, there were star shapes enclosed in the circles, triangles crossing each other, and a symbol language written in a circular line pattern surrounding and enclosing all the diagrams, if one looks carefully then they would realize that the red lines were similar to dried blood.

Lancer then held the greed crystal in his left hand, the crystal was slightly transparent there was a vague shadow similar to a lotus trapped inside it. He bit the corner of his tongue and spit the blood on the scroll.

He then placed his hand on the scroll and concentrated while chanting something under his breath.

..Crack...Crack…

Cracks started to appear on the surface of the green crystal, the trapped lotus-like flower inside it started to wither, at this time Lancer lifted his hand, surprisingly the diagrams made of a red line followed his hand and hovered in the mid-air. Lancer snapped his finger, the diagram fluctuated and started spinning.

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the surrounding turned gloomy, the white clouds were nowhere to be seen, the sky was now covered in dark black clouds.

Several black wisps of energy came out of nowhere and fused with the rotating diagram. The diagram burst into dazzling red light and mixed with clouds of black smoke.

"Is there a need for so much drama?" Lancer said in a cold tone.

"Hahaha… Looks Like You Are Finally Matured Alas Too Late…" A cold chilling voice came from the black smoke cloud. Two diamond-shaped blood-red eyes appeared in the cloud and stared at him.

"Enough bullshit Amon, I want to make a contract with you," Lancer said in a grave tone.

"A Contract? Haha… What Do You Even Have To Trade? You Have Few Minute To Live Anyway…" Amon looked at him with mockery filled eyes.

At that time when Lancer was still searching for ways to gain cultivation talent, he found one which was to make a deal with the… Devil.

Devils are the beings born from darkness, be it the darkness in the world or one's heart, if it is darkness then it will attract the devil.

It was a known thing among the people of this world that the devil approaches weak-willed people who are in despair and enchant them to make a deal, they would use fame, money, pleasure… anything one could dream for and in return, they would take something from them. The trade would be tempting but in the end, the one who will have the last laugh will always be the devil as for the other party, they will always end in despair.

A devil demands the thing which the other person loves the most, it's not because they like it but because they want to see the other party in sorrow, negative emotions are their power, others' sorrow is their greatest pleasure.

After gaining the inheritance of Devil Sovereign, Lancer knew that there was a way to summon the devil willingly, a high-level WitchCraft Practitioner could do that using a contract, he made a contract and summoned the devil thinking that if he didn't like the condition then he could cancel the trade.

The devil he summoned was called Amon, he agreed to cure the inability of his body and provide him with a high innate talent to practice martial arts but in return Lancer need to give him 50% of his total lifespan, starting from the time he makes the contract.

The main reason for which Lancer wanted to become a Martial Artist was to increase his lifespan, Amon saw through his desire and asked the thing he had and cherished most at the moment.

Normally, Lancer would reject it without a moment of thought but at that time the words and the way Amon spoke were too enchanting, he wasn't able to refuse and made the trade.

Once a trade is made, it cannot be broken.

Whenever Lancer's lifespan increased, 50% of that was cut off. He might look young at the moment but it was because of his true age, the second he reached 50% of his true age he would die. This 50% happens to be in just a few minutes.

During these years, Lancer cultivated faster and did all the things he likes, he tried to distract himself with many things, whether it was a world-renown delicacy, heart-moving sceneries, lost ancient techniques, discovering treasures, or loving a heavenly maiden, he tested them all.